Overview
- On ITV’s Loose Women, Wicks acknowledged the bar has “caused a lot of controversy” and framed it as a vehicle to expose the wider ultra‑processed food system.
- He said the product was marketed with explicit warnings and a “do not eat” message, describing it as a piece of protest art rather than a mass‑market snack, with proceeds pledged to healthy‑eating causes.
- Channel 4 said the bar contains ingredients linked in studies to cancer, diarrhoea, stroke and early death, noting that such additives remain legal to sell in the UK.
- Nutrition figures including Professor Tim Spector, Dr Federica Amati and Rob Hobson criticized the stunt as alarmist and urged nuanced guidance, clearer front‑of‑pack labelling and practical education tools such as product‑level risk assessments.
- A Times review cited a legal expert warning of possible product disparagement claims and scrutiny from regulators over safety and labelling, though no formal investigations have been reported.